Summer is.......

Having sleepovers with friends.....

Hayden's Arrow of Light

Last month was Hayden's last Pack Meeting and it was a very exciting night for Hayden. He received his Arrow of Light and officially moved up to Boy Scouts. Hayden is an avid scouter and he enjoys every minute of Scouts. He is THRILLED to finally be in 11 year old Scouts because he will FINALLY be able to go on overnight camp outings. As a Mom I worry about hiking trips and him getting lost in the woods. I think I read too many stories about Scouts being lost. ;o)


In our Ward it is a tradition that Hayden gets his face painted. Here is what the colors represent:
Yellow from the rising sun reminds us of the goals that we set before ourselves and all that we should strive for each day.
Blue from the sky to remind us to look up and focus on the positive that life has to give us.
Purple from the lilac flower reminds us to be gentle with all of God’s creations.
Green from the tall pine trees reminds us to be steadfast, true, and strong in keeping the Cub Scout Promise and living the Outdoor Code.
White from the pure snow reminds us to be clean and faithful, keeping our lives in harmony with God’s plan.
Orange from the setting sun reminds us to look back on each day with integrity and accountability for our actions.
Red from the petals of the rose reminds us that love of and for our parents and leaders helps to lift all of us throughout our lives.



Our Ward also has each Scout paint an arrow and it is painted to represent every award Hayden earned while in Cub Scouts. Hayden worked incredibly hard and earned all 20 of the Webelo activity badges.



Hayden also made a "crossing over" from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and he was welcomed by Brother Black and Brother Nielsen, his new Scout leaders.


Hayden, it is AMAZING to me that you are 11 and now a BOY SCOUT. It seems as though I was just finding out I was pregnant and worrying about you sleeping too much as a baby. I wonder where the time has gone and yet I am enjoying all the blessings that you brings to my life now. I am truly proud to be your Mom. I hope that you will continue to love Scouting and set your sights on becoming an Eagle. Continue to stay close to the Lord and to always make right choices. Dad and I love you more than words can describe. Congratulations on your Arrow of Light.

A quick Rocky Point Vacation.....

For about 6 months we have had a trip to Rocky Point, Mexico planned. I have looked forward to it for months.... just to escape reality for 4 whole days and to spend time on the beach reading a book and relaxing with the kids. Well it didn't quite happen that way.

On Friday I got a call from the school and the nurse said Hayden was sick.... he was running a fever and had a headache. With all the H1N1 flu stuff going around, the school has been very cautious about sick kids. I can totally understand, but in my humble opinion this whole "swine flu" is a joke and not something I even worry about. ANYWAY, I got Hayden home and he rested all afternoon and went to bed early. On Saturday he was feeling much better. No fever so I let him go flying with his Scout patrol for his aviation merit badge. When he got home, still no fever and he said he felt great, so we decided to go to Mexico.

Saturday we let the kids play at the beach and they swam until dark. The kids were exhausted and of course they crashed. Sunday the kids were up at the crack of dawn ready to play. Cole said his stomach hurt and he didn't want to eat. I figured he just wanted more time at the beach so we walked out of our room and right onto the beach. Everyone played and swam and body boarded until they were too exhausted to move. Sal had to leave to come back to work and my parents and I stayed with the kids.

Sunday night no one wanted to eat dinner. They just wanted to go to bed. In fact, Cole was asleep by 6 and Hayden was in bed soon after. When I went to check on Hayden later he was burning up. I didn't have a thermometer, but he was incredibly hot. I had given him Tylenol a couple of hours before, but it hadn't even touched his fever. I gave him some Motrin and hoped it would break his fever. It didn't. I started to get scared, not knowing what I could do to help him. My mom helped me get ice packs for his forehead and neck. Even that didn't seem to help. Finally I asked Hayden if he wanted Papa to give him a blessing and he said yes. My Dad came right down and gave Hayden a blessing. I was thankful for the priesthood and the blessing that he gave. Within a half and hour, Hayden's fever broke and he was able to sleep through the night.

The next morning Hayden still wasn't feeling great so we decided to come home. Cole said he felt better and ate 2 bowls of cereal. About 2 minutes after he finished eating, the cereal came right back up. We quickly packed the car and drove home.

It wasn't quite the vacation I had in mind, but I was thankful to be home. Today the kids are all on the mend. We have quarantined ourselves in the house today and hope by tomorrow all the germs will be gone.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the condo at the Mayan Palace. Sorry we had to come home early, but thanks for all your help with the sick kids. We love you!

Does this shirt make my neck red?

SO we are officially REDNECKS who watch, attend and follow everything NASCAR. Last weekend we went to our very first race. Yes we were NASCAR virgins so to speak. We had the BEST time and I NEVER in a million, zillion years thought those words would come out of my mouth. I am sure Mark LOVES seeing us eat our words.

We carpooled to the race with Jill, Mark, Mark's Dad, Mark's Brother in Law, and Doug. When we got in the car everyone asked where our NASCAR costumes were. Being the NASCAR virgins that we are we didn't have NASCAR costumes like everyone else. Lucky for us there were about 50 semi-truck trailers full of NASCAR paraphernalia to spend your money on. Sal and I decided we need to cheer for the rookie and we chose Sam Hornish #77 to cheer for. Thus we now are the proud owners of Hornish t-shirts and hats.

Before you get into the racetrack there is all kinds of booths and free stuff. Here is a picture of a grill that Sal would love to have in our backyard. Yes it too is a semi-truck trailer and the grill is the entire length of the trailer.

We finally took our seats in time for the prayer and National Anthem and parade of drivers. Mark's Dad gave me some great advice before the race. He said, "if you have anything you need to tell Sal, make sure you say it BEFORE the race starts." I tried to think of any secrets I needed to tell Sal, but I didn't have any. I honestly couldn't imagine how loud it would be when they say, "Gentlemen, start your engines." The roar was like nothing I had ever heard before, but truly it made my heart race and I was so excited! Thanks to Doug we had scanners to listen to. It would have been an incredibly boring race had we not had those. They are something we will invest in before the next race.

Here is the view from our seats. They were great seats!!

It was awesome to see Mark Martin (the old guy) win the race and we were happy that Hornish had a top ten finish. It was even better that he finished in front of Earnhardt Jr. (the Woolley's favorite driver).

I must say I have never seen so many people in my life, but they were all very nice.... it was nice to not have to listen to people cuss you out because you like a certain driver. I wish NFL games could be like that. Phoenix has one more race in November and we will be there. We are also planning a trip to Bristol so we can experience a short track race.

We won't take offense if you call us rednecks because we are PROUD to be NASCAR fans!

Happy Anniversary to US!

It is weird to think Sal and I have been married for 15 years. Where has the time gone and am I REALLY that old? It is nice to be at that point in our marriage where we look at each other and decided what to do for our anniversary rather than having to come up with a cleaver/romantic/surprise gift. HOWEVER, this year Sal did surprise me with an early anniversary present....... a new bike!

It is a hybrid bike..... part cruiser and part mountain bike so I can have the best of both worlds. Funny thing is that I haven't ridden a bike in about 20 years, but I felt like a kid again as I got on to ride it for the first time. Sal also bought himself a bike and we have enjoyed every minute of riding them.

Unfortunately, summer is here and we have already hit 100 degrees. I think the nights will be cool for another couple of weeks so we will try to take advantage of that.

We also decided to have our garage floors coated and sealed. Sal traded my Dad some work for the floor and we love it. This weekend we will finally be able to put all our junk back in the garages, but hopefully they will stay clean!

I love you Sal. You are truly my VERY best friend and I can't imagine my life without you! Happy Anniversary!

Michelle Obama Quote

Most people know that I am a huge Omaba fan..... Barack and Michelle. For those of you that are not fans I hope you will still enjoy this quote from Michelle given at the General Baptist State Convention.

"I come here today as a Christian, a person of faith who believes we've all been called to serve our fellow men and women and to honor God's creation. We want our girls to know right from wrong, to always tell the truth, to treat people no matter who they are with dignity and respect, no matter how different they may seem...because we want our girls to know we are all God's children and there's so much more that unites than divides us."

I too am trying to teach my kids the same things.

Nana's 83rd Birthday Party

A couple of weeks ago, we attended the funeral of Sal's step-nephew who died of Leukemia at the age of 7. The service was beautiful and uplifting, but my favorite part was reconnecting with Sal's family. It had been a couple of years since we had visited with Sal's Aunts and Uncles and it was wonderful to be with them again. They mentioned that Nana was having a birthday party a week later and we cleared our schedule so we could be there to celebrate.

It was Nana's 83rd birthday party. It was fun to see so many of Sal's Tia's and Tio's (Aunt's and Uncle's) and we had the BEST time. I always feel at home around Sal's family. I think I first met them when I was 14 or 15. That seems like FOREVER ago and believe me I feel ancient when I look at this picture of some of Sal's cousins. Josh was the ring bearer at our wedding and he was probably only 4 or 5 at the time. Now he is in college.... where does time go??

Here is a picture of us with Sal's Tio Rocky. His real name is Raul, but Sal has always called him Rocky. I never really knew where that name came from so I asked him. Raul said that he was a HUGE fan of the Rocky movies and so one day Sal started calling him Rocky and it stuck.

Christine took some great pictures of the kids......

Olivia with Sal's sister's 2 kids.... Alex and Andrew......

Olivia being shy.... We eventually had to bribe her with candy so Christine could get a decent picture of her.

I am so THANKFUL for Sal's family. They have loved me from the very beginning and I have always felt apart of the family. I can't wait for the next get together!! We LOVE you ALL!